Fort Worth baseball star joins Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr. on exclusive list
Fort Worth Christian senior shortstop Grady Emerson is one of 26 semifinalists for the 2026 Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.
Emerson, who is projected by ESPN to be a top-two selection in the upcoming MLB draft, is the only high school baseball player on the list. All the other semifinalists play Division I college baseball.
Emerson, the consensus top high school baseball player in the 2026 class, is the second high school athlete to be named a semifinalist in the 48-year history of the Golden Spikes Award — and they both played in Tarrant County.
Kansas City Royals All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who played at Colleyville Heritage, received the honor in 2019.
In 2010, eventual eight-time MLB All-Star Bryce Harper won the Golden Spikes Award when he was 17 years old. He left high school two years early to enroll at the College of Southern Nevada so he could become draft eligible sooner.
Emerson is batting .553 this season with seven home runs, 42 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. The Fort Worth Christian Cardinals (33-6-1) will look to advance to the TAPPS Division II state championship at 4 p.m. Monday, when they take on Lubbock Trinity Christian (31-9-1) in the state semifinals.
Fans can vote at the Golden Spikes website to help determine which athletes move on to the finals.
The SEC leads the way with 10 semifinalists, while the ACC has six and the Big 12 has four. No TCU baseball athletes were named semifinalists.
The Golden Spikes Award will be presented June 29 on MLB Network.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 3:33 PM.
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